A grandad was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy after his daughter spotted his nipple was “going inwards”. Peter Firth, 79, was first diagnosed when his daughter Rachel, 48, noticed his nipple had inverted when he had his top off.
Rachel, who works in prison healthcare, also felt a big lump on his left side and took him to the doctor. She said they were initially told by the GP receptionist that “men don’t get breast cancer”, but were eventually referred to York Hospital, where a biopsy diagnosed him with stage two breast cancer in his left breast.
He had a mastectomy and chemotherapy and was in remission until seven years later, when a pea-sized lump was spotted in his right breast. He underwent another mastectomy and has been given the all clear.
Now he wants to raise awareness of breast cancer in men. Less than one in 100 breast cancer cases in the UK are in men, according to Cancer Research UK.
Peter, a fisherman from Bridlington, said: “I was shocked that men could even get breast cancer. And me? I didn’t think I’d get breast cancer.
“I have just got on with life. I took it on the chin. I felt so lucky because there are so many ladies dying with breast cancer. I was just caught at the right time.”
Peter was first diagnosed in September 2018 after Rachel noticed the changes in his chest.
“I just popped around one day and I walked in and my dad had his top off,” she said. She noticed that his nipple “was going inwards”.
Rachel said: “I said I don’t want to scare you, but let me have a look, because it looks like there’s a lump as well.”
(Image: Rachel Firth/SWNS)
She then felt a “big lump”. Rachel, who had seen male breast lumps before through her work, said she was dismissed by the GP receptionist.
She said: “The receptionist wasn’t helpful. She said, ‘don’t be ridiculous. Men don’t get breast cancer, you shouldn’t scare your dad like that’.”
But after seeing the GP, Peter was referred urgently to York Hospital, where he had a biopsy. He was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in his left breast.
Two weeks later, Peter had a mastectomy to remove his left breast and 29 lymph nodes, 17 of which were cancerous, followed by chemotherapy and radiation.
Peter got the all-clear in 2018 – but in January 2024 doctors found a pea-sized lump in his other breast, just as he approached seven years cancer-free. Doctors once again diagnosed him with breast cancer.
“Everything just keeps getting thrown at my dad, but he just keeps getting back up. He’s a fighter,” said Rachel. In February 2024 Peter underwent a second mastectomy in his right breast.
(Image: Rachel Firth/SWNS)
The cancer was caught early, so he avoided further chemotherapy or radiation. Peter has never met another man with breast cancer and hopes sharing his story will raise awareness and reduce stigma.
Rachel said: “We struggled with how female-oriented everything is. All the booklets and packs were about women, they were about getting different bras.
“Even the ribbon is pink. When I used to go with my dad to appointments, they actually thought it was me with the breast cancer, not him.
“My dad took it all on his chin, he understood that men don’t really get it, but at the same time it was highlighted that something needed to change. Regardless of it not being a high percentage, men still get it.
“Most women get breast augmentation or reconstruction. My dad was never offered anything.
“He’s been left with no breasts whatsoever and a sunken chest, so why have they never offered him to have pecs put back in?
“There isn’t the research or history for men. Sometimes the sensitivity isn’t there as much.
“He wouldn’t be here if I’d have never spotted it. He would’ve died in 2017 because he didn’t know what it was. He loves to tell everybody that I saved his life and that I’m his guardian angel.”
(Image: Rachel Firth/SWNS)
Peter is now raising money for the Magnolia Centre at York Hospital, Breast Friends Support Group and Saint Catherine’s Hospice in Scarborough – by doing a 10,000ft parachute jump. He has raised £4,000 so far and will do the jump on July 26.
Peter said: “I’m doing the parachute jump because the people at York, Scarborough and St Catherine’s have looked after me like a brother. I’m not nervous. I’ve never given it a thought. Honestly, I haven’t. I’m a fisherman and the other fishermen said they’re going to make a big net so if the parachute doesn’t open, they can catch me.”
Donations can be made via Peter’s GoFundMe page.